If you want to make the famous cannoli desert then you will definitely need the cannoli shells. Cannoli shells can be found at some grocery stores, but if you do not find them you can easily make them at home. Below are a few easy recipes for making cannoli shells which you can try out.
Recipe 1
NB: this recipe makes 24 cannoli shells and it is a non-vegan recipe.
Ingredients
2 cups of all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon of kosher salt
1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
½ a cup of dry white wine
1 egg yolk
Canola oil for frying
Method
Step 1
Start by sifting the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl. The next thing is to add the butter to the other ingredients in your bowl. Use your fingers to really work the butter into the flour. Once that is done you need to add white wine and egg yolk to the other ingredients. Mix them in until a smooth dough has been formed.
Step 2
Once the dough is formed, take plastic wrap and use it to wrap the dough and flatten it out before placing it into the fridge.You should keep the dough in the fridge for a few minutes so that it can get a little bit of time to rest.
Step 3
After a few minutes take the dough outside and place it on a clean surface. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on the surface in which the dough is placed. This will help to ensure that it does not stick to the surface while you are rolling it.
Step 4
Roll the dough until it is about 1/8 inch thick. The next thing is to take a small bowl and use it to cut the dough. The bowl should have a diameter of about 3 to 4 inches.
Step 5
Once you have cut the dough use a cannoli mold to shape your dough into the shape of a cannoli shell. Use egg wash on the edges of the dough. This will help it to ensure that the shape of the cannoli shell stays intact.
Step 6
In a medium pot preheat canola oil to 360 F. Once the oil has heated place the canola shells inside and let them cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or until they are nice and crispy. Remove them from the oil and place them on paper towels so that you can drain some of the excess oil.
Recipe 2
NB: this is a vegan recipe for making cannoli shells but it only makes 10 cannoli shells.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons of vegan butter
3 tablespoons of corn dark syrup
5 teaspoons of light brown sugar
A pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
5 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
Method
Start by melting the vegan butter then add the corn dark syrup, brown sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Mix them all together before adding the flour. When you add the flour and a dough is formed follow steps 2 to 6 from the above recipe.